-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Sandy Sandfort writes:

SCENARIO ONE

I set up a meat-and-potatoes escrow business. I keep my nose clean. I honor my obligations. I build up a good reputation. At some point, I'll be approached by a murderer and the person who is hiring him or her. I'll accept the payment. When the murder is committed, I won't pay off. The murderer will (a) sue me (I don't think so), (b) damage my reputation (I'll leave this one as an exercise for the student), or (c) murder *me* (ah, but first he has to find me; in the world we posit, that won't be very easy). If this scenario happens very often, it'll take all the profit out of the murder business. Of course, the murderer can get the money face-to-face from the customer, but then we're back to today's square one.

Regarding (b), why wouldn't reputation be as important to "Murder Escrows R Us" as to "Meat-and-Potatoes Escrow"? Certainly the smaller market will result in higher charges for customers of MERU, but I don't see a qualitative difference in operation. Also, there is no reason for MAPE to know that they are paying a killer. The escrow could be set up to pay off or refund when a trusted certification agency instructs MAPE to do so. It might be possible to spread the pieces around such that no one agent is aware that they are participating in a murder for hire.

SCENARIO TWO

I set up a phoney murder-for-hire business. Someone contracts with me to bump-off their rich uncle. The client deposits my payment with a reputable escrow company, "Murder Escrows R Us." I go to the uncle and tell him the whole deal. Using digital technology, bribed coroners, etc., we fake his death. When the news hits the Net, the escrow pays me off. The uncle comes back to life, disinherits whomever he suspects wanted him dead. And I laugh all the way to the digital bank. I create a new pseudonym, place another murder-for-hire ad, and do it all again. Given our Brave New World, nobody can touch me.

This is a risk the customer is taking. I'd make sure to only hire killers certified by the Assassin's Guild, just as I'd only use an escrow agency certified by people I trust. I don't see this as a service that is sufficiently different in _kind_ to require protocols not required by other (pseudo)anonymous businesses. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A contract programmer is always intense. Patrick May pjm@gasco.com (public key available from servers) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~